Gesundheitliche Situation und Versorgung unbegleiteter minderjähriger Flüchtlinge – eine Näherung anhand qualitativer und quantitativer Forschung in der Stadt Bielefeld

Abstract

Unaccompanied minor refugees are children or adolescents below the age of 18 years who are not accompanied by their parents. International studies show that unaccompanied minor refugees represent a special risk group. Currently, empirical study results about the health status of unaccompanied minor refugees barely exist for Germany. Therefore, the goal of this article is an assessment of the health status and health care of unaccompanied minor refugees in Bielefeld, Germany. For this purpose, two qualitative studies and one quantitative study from Bielefeld are used.Results demonstrate that the health care of unaccompanied minor refugees underlies certain peculiarities that indicate major medical needs: Firstly, the need for psychological/psychiatric care and secondly the need for health care regarding infectious diseases. Further challenges in the health care needs of this population group result from its specific situation, and comprise legal conditions, as well as language and cultural competencies on behalf of the health care providers and the unaccompanied minor refugees themselves.

Gender differences in the mental health of unaccompanied refugee minors in Europe: a systematic review

“…Female URM, for example, are at a higher risk of sexual exploitation and abuse during the flight. 18 Other pathways relate to gender differences in coping styles or attitudes towards mental health and illness. 17…”

Healthcare needs among unaccompanied minor refugees: a study protocol of a qualitative study explaining access and utilisation across place and gender

“…6 11 12 For instance, studies from Germany have found that psychosocial care (PSC) for UMRs is provisionally provided by emergency and refugee relief 6 and in so-called clearing centres 7 12 and is legally administered by youth and social welfare services. 12 Health services research has identified a multitude of legal, cultural and language barriers in access to and utilisation of PSC for (adult) refugees, 11 13 14 but UMRs and their PSC processes have scarcely been studied so far. In light of the current situation of young refugees on the Greek islands and the efforts of the non-governmental organisations that are advocating for their admission to Germany so that they may be cared for, this research project is of high importance and topicality.…”

“…To date, most quantitative 7 12 17 18 and qualitative 6 12 17 18 studies on UMRs have documented either epidemiological 12 17 18 data or access to psychosocial healthcare services based on expert assessments and have not included lay perspectives. 6 7 12 17 18…”

“… 17 Moreover, since most studies have focused on either a singular city or region and have treated UMRs as a homogeneous entity, 5 7 12 there is a limited body of studies so far that grasps the ‘heterogeneity’ 17 of psychosocial healthcare services across place and gender. 12 17 19 Finally, there is a lack of comparative and intersectional (eg, class-sensitive, gender-sensitive and age-sensitive) studies exploring the context of processes and outcomes in access and utilisation for UMRs, since different legal and sociospatial contexts might trigger different mechanisms and outcomes. For example, largely varying patterns in application procedures for UMRs result in unequal access opportunities, since German asylum laws (AsylBLG §4–6) and social security bills (SGB VIII §40–42) entail entirely different healthcare claims for UMRs.…”

Multidrug-resistant organisms in refugees: prevalences and impact on infection control in hospitals

“…An abundance of data show that many refugees suffer from diseases such as the common cold, respiratory infections, diabetes etc., and especially from psychiatric disorders [ 8 ], [ 9 ], [ 10 ], [ 11 ], [ 12 ], [ 13 ], [ 14 ], [ 15 ], [ 16 ], [ 17 ], [ 18 ], [ 19 ], [ 20 ], [ 21 ]. However, regarding infections, refugees and migrants are not considered a threat to the general population; instead, they are to be perceived as a highly vulnerable group [ 22 ].…”